Bitcoin is “Virtual Immovable Property”: China Civil Law Drafter

Yang Lixin, a senior law figure currently drafting China’s new civil law, has described Bitcoin as “virtual movable property.”

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A drafter of China's General Provisions of Civil Law has likened Bitcoin to websites, calling both “virtual property.”

According to Chinese news resource cnLedger, which provided a translated summary of the comments, Yang Lixin described websites as “virtual immovable property” and virtual currencies such as Bitcoin as “virtual movable property.”

As director of the Civil and Commercial Law Science Research Center of the People's University of China, Lixin is one of several collaborators on China’s new civil law legislation.

In an interview with a Beijing journalist this week, Lixin said the work represented “major breakthroughs” in civil law.

The comments come as the likelihood of China officially regulating Bitcoin draws closer. While choosing to follow the majority of global economies in not banning Bitcoin outright, the People’s Bank of China stated last week there would be strict supervisory procedures adopted for cryptocurrency exchanges.

“Without the regulations, bubbles will be amplified by speculation, so I recommend some red lines should not be crossed.”

Exchanges in China have yet to fully resume Bitcoin withdrawals for traders, while the PBoC’s statement appeared to reassure markets, with LocalBitcoins’ Chinese market activity coming down from the previous weeks’ highs.